


The Mutant Sanctuary

by mystic_believexx



Series: The Mutant Sanctuary Series [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bottom Harry, Bullying, But not related to X-Men, Dom Louis, Dom/sub Undertones, Louis isn't like most Masters, M/M, Masters can use mutants for sex and companionship, Multi, Mutants, Mutants are created for humans to buy, My tags are confusing but the story is worth a read I promise, Possessive Behavior, Slaves, Soulmates, Top Louis, slight mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-14 20:32:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4579044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mystic_believexx/pseuds/mystic_believexx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“Why don’t you go find someone else?” Louis suggested and Harry peeked up through his eyelashes to see the man had moved closer to his display case.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Lottie scoffed at that.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>“Oh, please!” she smirked, “You just want me to move on so you can have him”.</i>
</p><p><i>“Let me put this another way”, Louis said and his voice got slightly rougher. It made Harry shiver a bit, in a good way. “Find someone else. He’s mine”.</i><br/> </p><p>Harry had never known of a life outside the Institute- the place all mutants were created. At eighteen years old, he is being sold at the Market and when Louis Tomlinson, owner of The Sanctuary, comes across him, he has to have him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Mutant Sanctuary

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written something like this before. I'm not even sure where this came from but I hope you enjoy :) xx
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** This work is entirely fictional. The plot and characters are created by me and are in no way a representation of any real life individuals. No offence is intended.

Harry had never known of a life outside the Institute- the place all mutants were created. He didn’t even know who his parents were, not that it mattered. Within the walls of this prison, all anyone cared about was staying well groomed, learning to control their powers and developing good manners so that when they reached the age of eighteen, they would be bought by a respected Master. 

That was what the Institute did. Make mutants for the pleasure, company and protection of the richest humans in the world. Harry’s daily routine consisted of visiting the communal shower room at the allocated time, attending classes where he had minimal interaction with his friends and trying not to think about how, soon enough, his time at the Institute would be coming to an end and he’d be at the mercy of a man or woman who he’d have to obey without question and protect with his life. That’s what his mutant powers were to be used for as they often told him. Only for the protection and pleasure of his future Master. 

It should have made him hate the Institute, knowing that they were grooming him to be hardly more than a toy but he had never known anything else. He was a prisoner who was aware of it and yet, didn’t mind.

Harry liked his room at the Institute. It was a pleasant shade of peach, with a small cot in one corner (that was slightly on the thin side and sometimes made his back sore) and a window with a virtual screen behind it that showed trees and birds to help them pretend they weren’t being kept underground. It wasn’t really a room as much as a cell, with metal bars to prevent any escapes. Not that he had ever considered the notion. 

When one had been born and bred at the Institute, escape was a foreign concept. All Harry knew was his cell, the guards who visited him to bring him meals and the large laboratory where he was taken once a month to have tests administered.

“To keep you healthy and in top condition”, Eleanor, their warden, said. 

Harry didn’t mind the Institute at all really, except when he had to go through the Testing. He wished he had a cooler power, something that made people stare at him with awe the way they did when Niall put his angel wings on display or something that made them shrink back with fear as Zayn’s electric shield did. But Harry didn’t have a power that was half as cool as his friends. No. All he could do was see visions of the future and not even that was set in concrete because the future was forever changing. 

That’s how they had explained it to him whenever one of his predictions went wrong (which was more often than not!). 

“The future”, Dr.Winston, the Head Scientist had said, “Is affected by every thought, every decision an individual chooses to make. The visions you see can change in an instant. You can only see one possibility out of the countless available”.

In other words, his power was fucking useless and Harry was probably never going to find any Master to buy him. Not when there were people at the Institute who could serve as better guards to their Masters with the ability to throw fire or make hurricanes. That was why Harry tried so hard to have an alluring personality, in the hopes that someone might buy him solely for companionship but people usually just found him cute rather than sexy. And what powerful Master would want a ‘cute’ bedroom companion? None- that’s who.

“Harry!” He looked up at the hissed whisper and saw none other than Perrie standing by his cell.

“Pez”, he grinned at the violet haired girl, “How’d you get out of your cell?”  
Perry had the incredible ability of being able to move through solid barriers but the moment this had been found out, her cell bars had been changed so they became electric. This meant she couldn’t go through them without getting shocked and thus, put an end to her wanderings.

“The power’s gone out”, she grinned, “And the warden’s gone to check out what happened”.

“It’s risky this”, Harry told her as she glided through the bars and into his cell, “You could get in big trouble if they catch you”.

“They haven’t yet, have they?” Perrie chuckled, coming closer to ruffle Harry’s curly hair, “You’re such a worrywart, babe”.

Harry huffed, pouting a little but smiled when she settled on the cot next to him, cuddling against his side.

Perrie nearly jumped out of her skin when the wall of Harry’s room started shimmering, announcing the arrival of a portal. Harry, who was well used to this every time a power cut happened, only grinned wider.

Three figures stepped through the portal. The first was a blonde haired lad with cornflower blue eyes that sparkled with unfettered enthusiasm.

“Hi Niall”, Harry greeted, moving over as the boy jumped onto his bed with a shout of “Hey!”

The next person was the highly respected and highly feared Zayn Malik. His eyes were black as always but not smouldering, which meant he wasn’t about to unleash a bolt of electricity on all of them at any second. That was always reassuring. Even after having been friends with Zayn for as long as he could remember, Harry was still a bit on edge about him and his power. 

Zayn’s cell, he knew for a fact, was insulated in order to prevent Zayn from escaping or hurting anyone. The warden had, after a particularly painful incident, made a slot in the door to push food through, refusing to enter. This also meant Zayn rarely had to go through testing, no one wanting to be the unlucky one who had to escort him to the lab.

When Zayn lost his temper, he was a force to be reckoned with. The most likely, as Niall once said, to be successful in an escape attempt. But Zayn, much like the rest of them, never thought about escaping. It was fear that kept them all here. Fear of the unknown for everything outside the Institute was strange and unfamiliar to them.

The last boy to step through the portal was Liam, with his military hairstyle and friendly smile. He sealed the portal behind him, settling on the cold floor of the room, next to a bored looking Zayn.

“I heard the guards talking”, Niall said, pointing to his ears. Along with having the ability of flight, Niall was also lucky enough to have exceptional hearing. “The power circuit got blown out by Caroline during Testing. She lost control of her water bullets, apparently. I think she did it on purpose, you know, for the party she’s been planning all month?”

“Oh yeah!” Perrie exclaimed, “I forgot about that! How’s she planning on getting everyone out of their cells then?”

Liam grinned.  
“Already done”, he said, “She asked me to help her last week. Right at this moment, everyone else is gathered in the Common room and all the guards are headed to the East Tower where a mysterious fire’s broken out”.

“Nick”, they all said as one, laughing. 

“We should have about half an hour”, Niall added, “Do you guys wanna go join the party?”

Zayn shook his head.  
“I’m not really in the mood”, he muttered and Liam immediately threw an arm around him, pulling him closer. 

It never failed to amaze Harry how Zayn, whose entire demeanour screamed ‘keep your distance if you don’t want me to kill you’, cuddled into Liam much like a kitten would do. Liam brought out a softer side of him. It was cute to watch.

Perry apparently thought so too, for she let out a soft coo that had Zayn glaring at her but he didn’t move from his comfortable position against Liam.

“I know what you mean, mate”, Niall empathised, “Just a few weeks left before we all go our separate ways”.

Harry sucked in a sharp breath. He’d forgotten that the Market was being held in three weeks, where they would each be put on display in glass cages for potential buyers to browse over. The lucky ones would be bought by a kind Master, who would treat them right. Others might end up being sold to the scum that ran the prostitution rings of the City. Every night before bed, Harry prayed he wouldn’t be sold to one of them. 

“We might not get bought at the first Market”, Harry reasoned, “Then we’ll all be together for another three months before the next one comes along”.

Zayn scoffed. “Always the optimist. There’s no way that none of us will get bought. It’s just basic probability. Out of the five of us, at least one will…”

“Alright! We get it”, Perrie snapped, turning to pull Harry closer and letting him hide his tears against her shoulder. “It’s not really something I want to think about. What happens happens. Until then, can we just enjoy each other’s company?”

Everyone nodded in assent before Liam softly said, “I’m really going to miss you guys. You’re the only friends I’ve ever known”.  
And that just made Harry sob harder. 

“Oh for fuck’s sake”, Perrie muttered but she too had tears in her eyes.

“At least people will want to buy you all”, Harry sniffed, wiping his wet cheeks, “No one’s even going to look my way”.

“What are you on about?” Perrie immediately stated, “You’re gorgeous! You have fucking dimples, Harry! Who wouldn’t want you?”

“I’m ‘cute’ not gorgeous”, Harry pointed out glumly, “There’s a difference. And look at my power! It’s the stupidest thing possible. I’m a failure of a mutant”.

“You can see the future, Harry!” Perrie slapped his arm, “That’s an amazing power! I wish I had it!”

“None of my visions ever come true though, do they?” Harry retorted, “The future’s unpredictable which means I’m about as useful as a rock. Wait…rocks might be more useful. At least you can chuck ‘em at people”.

“You _are_ useful”, Liam said at once, “Some of your visions have come true. Like that time you told me Zayn would lose his temper with the warden!”

“That wasn’t a vision”, Harry muttered, “I saw his eyes turning that shade of red they do before he loses it”.

Zayn chuckled quietly.  
“Oh yeah”, he murmured, “I managed to hit Eleanor on the arm. Gave her an electric burn. That was a good day”.

Perrie sighed. “Well, I’m more worried about being bought by someone and then returned because I’m not good enough”, she said.

That made them all shiver. Any mutant that was returned because they had displeased their Masters, were immediately thrown into the breeding programme. No one knew exactly what they did in there as it was in a separate wing but Harry had sometimes walked down the long corridors to his lessons, and heard screams from the general area.

It was, potentially, the worst fate to get.

“It’s not going to happen to you, Pez”, Zayn said, giving her a smile. “Anyone would be lucky to have you”.

Liam’s eyes narrowed as they fixed on Perrie, almost jealous of the compliment but before he could say anything, Niall spoke.

“You know what I heard?” he said, shifting Harry’s attention to him, “One of the guards were talking about it with the warden. She said Lord Tomlinson’s coming to the Market this time”.

Harry frowned, confused.  
“You don’t mean…” he began slowly but Liam cut across him.

“L..Lord Tomlinson? As in the guy who owns The Sanctuary?” he breathed.

Niall nodded. “The one and the same”, he grinned, “Remember I told you four years ago? Me brother got bought by him and he was even allowed to write to me a couple of times! Greg said Lord T’s brilliant! Strict but really funny and nice. And no one at The Sanctuary gets hurt or rented out the way some Masters do. Mutants are even allowed to have relationships among themselves! Can you believe that?”

Zayn’s suddenly looked a lot more interested. 

“Lord T occasionally asks a mutant to help relieve his needs but, according to Greg, he doesn’t even do the proper stuff”, Niall continued, “Like, just makes them give him a hand job or blow job and that’s it. Doesn’t even kiss them, apparently”.

That made Liam’s eyes widen.  
“What? No sex?” he asked as if it was too good to believe.

“Nope”, Niall grinned, “Greg’s last letter a couple of months ago said he’s given Lord T a hand job twice now and he’s never had to go any further. As far as he knows, no one else has either. It’s pretty much like a permanent holiday, living in a fancy resort. He treats them like they’re humans and not mutants”.

“It’d be a dream come true if he bought me”, Perrie murmured and Liam nodded. 

“He hasn’t come to a Market in years now”, he said, “Wonder why he’s coming this year?”

“I heard”, Zayn suddenly said, “That his parents tried to set him up with a mutant mate. They’re really orthodox about that kind of thing. Wants all their children to be settled down and not just buying mutants for entertainment. That’s why he stopped coming to the Market but a few months ago, he went through a failed mating ritual”. 

“That’s horrible! Must have hurt like hell”, Liam murmured and Zayn nodded.

“They should have expected it really”, Perrie said, “You can’t just be ‘set up’ with your mate! It’s a biological thing. If you’re not biologically compatible with each other, the ritual won’t work”.

 

“Ritual?” Harry asked, completely confused by the conversation.

Perrie gave him a pointed look. “Didn’t you pay attention in Life classes last year?”  
Harry’s answering smile was sheepish. It hadn’t been his fault, really. Those classes had been boring, so much so that he’d utilised them as his extended nap time.

“The mating ritual”, Perrie explained with an exasperated sigh, “Is where a human and mutant merge their souls together. Well, that’s the official explanation for it. Basically, they mark you on the side of the neck”, she pointed to Harry’s neck, “And you mark them on the waist. If it works, you’ll both get a tattoo in those locations, usually quite small and that marks you as legal, bonded mates. Untouchable by any other. The ritual only works if it’s done with your true mate though”.

“It’s a huge thing”, Zayn continued, looking rather bored, “Once a human’s found their mate and done the ritual, they’re mates for life. No one else will ever hold their interest or satisfy them the way their mate can”.

“But how do you know if someone’s your true mate?” Harry asked.

Perrie shrugged, brushing her hair out of her eyes.  
“That’s the thing”, she said, “No one really knows. I suppose it would just feel right when you’re with them or something but a lot of people have failed mating rituals happen because they think they’re true mates but aren’t. It’s especially common among arranged matches”.

 

“So Lord Tomlinson’s on the lookout for his true mate then?” Liam asked.

Zayn scoffed. “Good luck to him, I say! There’s over two hundred mutants at this Institute alone and there’s another five like ours just in this country. His true mate could be anywhere in the world, really!”

“I don’t think he’d be looking for a mate here”, Perrie said, “There are better Institutions out there, like that one Nick used to be at? They train mutants to fit in with the higher class and they’re from finer breeding stock. Those are the kinds that people like Lord Tomlinson would consider mating with”.

“Then why’s he coming to our Market?” Liam asked.

“Probably just wants a distraction”, Perrie said with a thoughtful frown, “More companions, you know? To ignore the whole ‘failed mating’ spectacle. It’s got to be embarrassing for his family that”.

“God” Niall grinned, “I don’t even think I’d mind being his mate, to be honest. If he’s as nice as Greg says to the mutants at the Sanctuary who he just keeps around for company, imagine how fucking royal he’s going to be to his lifelong mate!”

Perrie gave Niall a look of disapproval.

“ _Every_ Master will treat their mate well, Niall”, she said, “Being mated means you’re their equal in every way. Being someone’s mate is the highest honour a mutant can get”.

And that, Harry thought, summed up their sad state of affairs. Being more than just another companion for their Masters, being given a higher status than their mutant peers- that honestly was the highest of honours. 

Bonded mutants were treated with the same respect as humans in society. They no longer had a Master, just a spouse who was their equal in every way. Their certificate of ownership would be thrown away and they’d be welcomed into society as free men and women. It was the dream of most mutants to find their true mate and to build a life with them but it was easier said than done.

Many mutants became so desperate that they attempted to seduce their Masters into mating them but, like Perrie had pointed out, if they weren’t biologically compatible, the ritual just wouldn’t work, no matter how much they willed it to. 

Niall rolled his eyes at Perrie’s outburst. She took their Life classes very seriously. 

“I was just kidding”, he grumbled, “Well, not really. Like, if Lord T _was_ my true mate, I’d be fucking ecstatic about it but if not”, he shrugged. “Let’s be honest. If he wants to mate with someone here, he’s probably going to go for Zayn. Those cheekbones are to die for!”

Liam glared at Niall but then sighed, turning to Zayn.  
“He’s right, you know”, he said, worrying his lip between his teeth, “You’re probably going to get chosen, as his companion if not his mate. With your looks, personality and power, he’d be blind not to!”

It should have been a compliment to know that he was a sure bet at being picked, at escaping from the Institute, but Zayn frowned, glaring at the ground and pushing himself away from Liam.

“I’d rather be sold to the Cowell brothers than become someone’s mate”, he muttered.

 

There was a collective gasp around the room. The Cowell brothers ran one of the leading prostitution rings in the City, renting out mutants to the highest bidder. No one escaped the Cowell brothers once they’d been sold to them, condemned to a life of pleasing others and never having the option of mating or having children. Even if they did find their true mate, their Masters wouldn’t release them to be with them. 

“Zayn!” Liam gasped, reaching out and grabbing the boy’s arms, “You don’t mean that! Don’t you dare say…”

“What, Li?” Zayn hissed, pushing his hands away, “That I’d never be able to love someone else?”

“You will!” Liam sounded almost desperate, “Everyone has a true mate, Zayn. You’ll find…”

“And in which fucking rule book does it say your true mate has to be _human_ , huh? Why the hell can’t I bond with a mutant?”

“Z…”

“What? You want me to pretend that being some random’s mate is my life long dream? Because it’s not and you fucking know it!”

There were angry tears in Zayn’s eyes and Harry felt Niall crowd closer to him, obviously expecting Zayn to shoot out a bolt of electricity at any moment. But what actually happened was even more unexpected. 

One minute Zayn was clenching his fists beside him and the next, Liam had moved towards him, pushing him against the wall and devouring his mouth with hungry kisses. Zayn moaned softly, pulling Liam closer and Harry looked away. He had always suspected, of course, that there was something more than just friendship going on between those two. But seeing the evidence of that was something else.

He wanted to be happy for them, he truly did, but they all knew they could never be together. Both Zayn and Liam, like the rest of them, were destined to be no more than objects of entertainment and company for their future Masters. And the chances of two mutants being allowed to mate were extremely rare. 

Each of their Masters would have to give them his or her signed permission, allowing them to mate with each other. Even then, there was the fact that two mutants who mated could never have children. They could adopt, Harry supposed but then he shook his head, freeing it of such thoughts. There was no point in even thinking it when the chances of Zayn and Liam being allowed to mate each other was…what? One in a million? Even less? 

Harry looked up to see Niall and Perrie’s eyes reflecting the same sad thoughts that had gone through his mind. 

When Zayn and Liam finally pulled away from each other, they were both crying. 

Harry, Perrie and Niall moved towards them, enveloping them both in a tight group hug as if they could protect the love they had for each other by just never letting go.

“I know it’s not possible”, Zayn finally said, resting his head against Liam’s shoulder as the other boy’s arms came around him, holding him tightly. “But it’s nice to just…wish, you know?”

“You’re the only one I’ll ever love, Z”, Liam whispered in his ear, too quiet for anyone but Zayn and Niall to hear (because Niall heard everything!). “No matter what happens, I’ll always be yours”.

And that was the only promise he could make under the circumstances. Zayn nodded, a small smile on his face and he snuggled closer. 

There was a sudden loud blare of alarms that made Harry place his hands over his ears.

“Shit!” Perry said, “That’s the alarm that goes off before the power comes back on. We have two minutes! Go!”

She ran out of Harry’s cell, fluidly sliding through the bars and heading towards her own room.

Liam had already created a portal through which Niall, with a hurried goodbye, stepped into. Liam kept his arms around Zayn as they both said bye to Harry, telling him they’d see him in class tomorrow and then they were gone, the portal fading after them. 

Harry lay back on his cot with a deep sigh, wishing that he could freeze time and that the day of the Market would never arrive. As always, his wishes were ignored by the deities. 

 

*********************************************************************************

 

“Styles”, Eleanor, the warden, appeared at Harry’s cell with a key, “Final Testing today”.

She opened the door and saw Harry was dressed in one of the clean orange jumpsuits they all had to wear.

“Follow me”, she ordered.

She didn’t wait to see if he listened, knowing Harry was too scared of her to linger. Eleanor, along with every other authoritative figure at the Institute, was human. Harry’s mutant nature followed her commands- it physically pained him if he displeased her. Such was their biology. That didn’t mean he liked her, however. 

In fact, out of all the people at the Institute, he only felt true hatred towards Eleanor. She took an almost sadistic pleasure in reminding them how inferior they were compared to her. The only person who didn’t put up with her bullshit was Zayn but he pretty much had a free pass since he could electrocute anyone who tried to force him to do anything he didn’t want.

Eleanor stopped at the next cell, opening it with a rattle.  
“Patel. Hurry up”. 

Harry smiled at the darker skinned lad who ran out of the room, keeping his head bowed. He was one of the quiet ones who never got into trouble. He spared Harry a quick glance and nod before scurrying after Eleanor.

There were two guards following them too, making sure that Harry didn’t linger behind too long.

“Nelson! Get off the ceiling! NOW!” Eleanor shouted as she opened another cell that, at first glance, had appeared empty. Harry looked up to see a brown haired girl walking upside down on the ceiling. He gaped up at her, trying to figure out how she managed to defy gravity like that.

Then he noticed she was wearing handcuffs. Those were only worn by mutants who the warden felt could cause her physical harm. The handcuffs were made of some material that prevented mutants from using any power that required their hands. The only reason Zayn didn’t have one on was because he’d zap Eleanor if she came within a feet of him with a pair. She had tried it on more than one occasion to no avail and finally given up after a particularly painful electric burn to her arm.

“Fuck you”, the girl on the ceiling said before easily sliding down the walls and stepping onto the ground. “I was relaxing”.

Eleanor just said, “Watch it, Nelson! You’re not out of here just yet. I can still punish you” and kept walking.  
The girl fell into step beside Harry, glancing at him.

“Hi”, Harry said, more out of politeness than anything else.

“Hey yourself”, the girl grinned. She was quite pretty, “I’m Jesy”.

“Harry”, he introduced himself and then, because he was curious, added, “Um…how did you do that? Walk on the ceiling like that?”

Jesy giggled. “I always forget people don’t normally do that. I can make things float. I once made my bed float at Eleanor’s head so she made them put these things on me”.

She indicated her handcuffs. “So now the only thing I can float is myself. Oh, and I can kind of stick onto walls? That’s how I walk on the ceiling. I float up there and then just…stick”.

“Wow”, Harry said in awe. That sounded amazing!

“What’s your power then?” Jesy asked, scrutinising him. 

“I…uh, just, I can see stuff from the future…sometimes”, he finished lamely.

“That’s cool”, Jesy answered and she sounded like she meant it.  
Harry shrugged, blushing a little. He wished his power was cooler or that he could control and understand it better but it was what it was.

The next cell was a familiar one and he grinned as Eleanor put a key into the special panel and turned it, cutting off the electric supply to the cell’s bars. 

“Out, Edwards!” she shouted and Perrie raised an unimpressed eyebrow before sliding through the bars. Jesy gasped beside him and muttered something that sounded like, “Wicked!”

Perrie immediately moved to Harry’s other side, grabbing his arm in hers.

“You ready?” she whispered and Harry nodded. He wasn’t really but it’s not like he had a choice. This was their final Testing, where they would get the verdict on whether they were ready to be sold at the Market or not. 

Eleanor had opened two more cells and another two girls joined them, one on the verge of tears. Perrie looked as if she wanted to ask what was wrong but it was Jesy who moved forward to grab the girl’s hand.

“Hey”, she murmured, “You okay?”  
The girl shook her head, falling back to walk with them. 

“What’s your name?”

“Taylor”, she whispered, “I’m…I know what they’re going to tell me. They’ll put me into the breeding program”. 

She gave a loud sob causing one of the guards to growl at her.

Jesy glared at the guard then turned back to Taylor.  
“No they won’t”, she comforted, “What’s your power? I’m sure someone will want to buy you”.

That only made Taylor sob louder.  
“I don’t have one!” she finally managed to say and Harry’s eyebrows shot up. 

It was extremely rare for a mutant to not inherit a power. That’s what made them different from humans, after all!

“I’m a silent carrier, they said”, Taylor continued, apparently unable to stop now that she had started talking. “I have a recessive gene for some kind of power so I can pass it onto my children but can’t use it myself. That’s why they kept me in here. They think I’ll be able to have powerful kids and they want to train them the same way all of you were…”

She trailed off with a sob and Jesy wrapped an arm around her shoulder in a comforting fashion, exchanging a look of sadness with Harry and Perrie.  
They all knew Taylor was right. A mutant who didn’t have powers herself but had the genes for it, would definitely be thrown into the breeding program. Harry just hoped it wouldn’t be too painful an experience. 

Eleanor had opened up another cell now and out flew Niall, his wings arrogantly on display, grinning down at them.

“Horan! Get your feet on the ground!” Eleanor demanded but that only made Niall fly just that bit higher. 

Eleanor looked murderous. She opened her mouth to say something more but was interrupted by the sight of a concrete room around the corner. This one had bars and then an opaque door which prevented them from seeing inside.  
Harry knew whose room it was even before Eleanor called out, “Malik! Final Testing. I’m coming in to make sure you’re ready”.

Harry heard the familiar voice come from within, filled with a venom Zayn only used when directing his remarks to Eleanor, “You fucking set foot inside my room and I’ll _kill_ you”.

Eleanor’s jaw tightened but she obviously believed him capable of carrying out his threat. Zayn was well known for his temper. For some reason, his submissive mutant nature seemed to vanish when he was faced with Eleanor. Harry thought it was great! 

Liam was forever worrying over it but Zayn never got in trouble because people were too afraid of him.

“Edwards!” Eleanor snapped at Perrie, “Get in there and make sure he’s ready!”

Perrie gave a wide-eyed look, acting as if she were scared. Harry didn’t understand why since her and Zayn were good friends.

“He’s going to shock me or something if I go in”, Perrie exclaimed, her lower lip wobbling as if she were on the verge of tears due to fright, “The only person who he’ll listen to in this kind of mood is Liam!”

And then Harry understood.  
“Payne’s in the next group”, Eleanor huffed, obviously annoyed. Perrie shrugged, knowing this fact all too well.

“Well then, looks like you’ll be having Zayn in the next group too”, she responded, nonchalantly. 

Harry knew Perrie wanted all of them to go through Testing together so they might be put next to each other at the Market. 

“Face the vultures as a united front”, she’d called it.

Eleanor knocked on Zayn’s door again, her face grim.

“Malik.I’m giving you one last chance. If you don’t come out, I’ll send one of the guards in after you”.

The two guards at the back of the group exchanged a look with each other and took a step back, pulling at their collars nervously. 

“Go ahead”, Zayn called back, “Make sure their coffins are ready for the funeral though”.  
Harry bit back a laugh.

“Fucking hell”, Eleanor muttered, turning back to stare at them. Her eyes fell on Perrie again and she hissed, “Fine! Go get Payne. You can get into his room without a key”.

Perrie grinned, glancing up at Niall who was hovering near them.  
“His room’s on the other end of the corridor”, she said, “Give me a lift?”

“Sure thing!” Niall grinned, swooping down and lifting her up in his arms before Eleanor could protest.

“I can’t wait to get rid of you lot”, she told the rest of them at large. 

 

It only took a few moments for Liam’s portal to appear and then him, Niall and Perrie were stepping through it.

“Get Malik”, Eleanor commanded and Liam gave her a mock salute, opening another portal and stepping through. Harry knew he’d gotten to Zayn when, a few moments later, Zayn said, “Fine! Open the fucking door”.

Eleanor didn’t seem all too pleased at his disrespect but she was behind schedule so she hurried them along, making sure to stay as far away from Zayn as humanely possible.

 

The lab was as white and sterile as always. The moment Harry stepped in, he felt his heart beat pick up, his hands beginning to sweat. He really hated Testing. It was just another opportunity for him to humiliate himself. He made sure he was at the very back of the group so he wouldn’t have too many witnesses to see his embarrassment.

“One at a time then”, Dr.Winston said, standing at the front of the room with his white coat on. He gestured to the examination table as Patel, the first in their group, stepped forward.

Dr.Winston turned to him, doing the routine checks on eyesight, hearing, etc. Once he’d pronounced him fit, he gestured to the training area and Patel jumped off the table, heading towards the weights.

Harry watched with interest, never having seen Patel use his powers. He went straight for the heaviest thing, lifting it with his hands far too easily and holding it above his head for a full five minutes without any sign of tiredness. He turned to Dr.Winston with feverish excitement in his eyes and the scientist gave him an approving nod.

“Excellent!” Dr.Winston exclaimed, jotting down a quick note before tearing off a piece of paper and handing it to Eleanor. “He’s ready”.

“Great”, she gestured to Patel to follow her, saying something about how he needed to be prepared for the Market. Harry wondered what that meant.

One by one, each of them was given the bill of fitness and asked to demonstrate their powers. Harry almost felt jealous as he saw his friends show off their abilities. He was dreading his own turn. 

Taylor, as predicted, was taken away by another white-coated man, having been told she wasn’t ‘Market material’. Harry couldn’t do anything more than shoot her a look of sympathy. 

Then it was his turn and, once he was given the clean bill of health, he laid down on the table, trying to will his mind to give him a vision. This was how it always was, with Harry trying his hardest to get some glimpse of the future for Testing purposes and Dr.Winston watching him with a patient smile while Eleanor tapped her foot and didn’t bother covering her yawn of boredom.

But Harry had no other choice. His power wasn’t something he could use on command, though he had tried for years to make it that way. Sometimes, Harry would wake up in the morning with what he thought was a dream at first and then realise, was a vision. Sometimes it hit him in the middle of class, causing him to space out for a few seconds or minutes, depending on the length of it. It came and went whenever it pleased, a part of him not even the Institute could control.

Today though, Harry wasn’t getting anything. 

“Maybe he’s not ready for it”, Eleanor suggested and Harry felt himself panic. He couldn’t be left at the Institute by himself! Not when all his friends were going to be sold at the Market!

“I..I saw something”, he lied, opening his eyes and looking at Dr.Winston who was nodding in excitement.

“What did you see, Harry?” he asked, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

“Um…it was..a person”, Harry quickly improvised, hoping he sounded convincing, “Um, they were…uh, looking at me? Like, standing in front of me…I think it was at the Market”.

“Man or woman?” Dr.Winston asked.  
“Man”. He was lying anyway. It hardly mattered.

“He’s ready”, Dr.Winston told Eleanor, causing Harry’s heart to leap, “If he saw that, then someone must be interested in him at the Market”.

“You know how unreliable Styles’ visions are”, Eleanor reminded and Harry wasn’t a violent person by nature but he wanted to poke her in the eye at this particular moment. Couldn’t she just shut up?

“Well, worst comes to worst, he won’t be bought and we’ll put him back out there in three months”, Dr.Winston stated before giving Harry a smile, “Good luck”.

Harry nodded and followed Eleanor out. Instead of going back to his cell as he had expected, she took him down another, unfamiliar corridor. At the end of it was a large metal door which she opened by typing something into the control panel next to it.

“Where am I going?” he asked her, hesitantly.

She gave him a look as if he were stupid before saying, “Makeover. You’ve got to be prepped before we put you on display. No one’s going to look at you twice in your current state”.

And that was how Harry found himself having a shower with scented soap instead of the normal, anti-bacterial crap they had in the communal bathrooms. Then, he got his hair shampooed and styled by a friendly woman with a bright smile and an easy laugh. 

“Your locks are gorgeous, babe!” she told him as she combed through the curly brown hair. Harry chuckled softly. 

“Thanks”, he murmured.

“What do you think? Up or down?” she asked him and he considered for a minute, looking at his reflection. He normally had it tied back but it looked good down, especially after the way she’d styled it so the curls didn’t puff out but rather fell in loose waves to his shoulder.

“Down”, he decided and she beamed at him as if he had said the right answer. 

He grinned back and soon he was being moved from hair to wardrobe. That’s where he saw Liam and Niall. Zayn was in one of the changing rooms, while Niall was being fussed over by two, equally friendly looking ladies.

“The girls are in the other room”, Liam told him when he saw Harry looking around for Perrie, “They want me to wear a suit. I’ve never worn one before. I’m going to look ridiculous!”

Niall, having heard this, scoffed from where he was standing.

“You want to see ridiculous? I’m getting holes cut in the back of my shirt for my wings ‘cause they want ‘em out on display. _That’s_ fucking ridiculous!”

Harry had to stifle his laugh. One of the women came over to him then, exclaiming they had the perfect outfit for him and pushing him into one of the changing rooms, throwing a bunch of clothes in after him.

“Try it on!” was the only instruction he got as he stared down at the jumper and tight pants. He put on the outfit, stepping outside to look in the mirror. He was pleasantly surprised to see his reflection staring back at him, looking almost…pretty.

“Fabulous!” the woman who had given him the clothes exclaimed the moment she spotted him, “I knew it would suit you! You have the body for it!”

“Whoever gets you is going to be a lucky person”, the other woman agreed before turning Niall towards the mirror, “You too, Niall! Looks amazing!”

Niall looked as if he wanted to stay annoyed but he was grinning as he saw his reflection. Even with holes for his wings, the shirt fit his body perfectly, accentuating his toned figure.

Liam stepped out of another changing room, pouting as he saw his reflection.

“I look stupid”, he stated before another voice said, “No. You look fucking hot!”

Liam spun around to see Zayn who was probably the personification of ‘hot’.  
They had dressed him in a leather jacket and white t-shirt that had a plunging neckline. His pants were leather as well and tight, showing off his lean legs. His hair was styled back, a small quiff at the front and Harry wondered if Liam was going to swoon. The lad was staring at Zayn, his throat working but no words coming out.

Zayn grinned as if he knew the exact effect he was having on Liam, which he probably did.

“Ready then?” Zayn’s smile vanished as Eleanor appeared at the door and he remembered what they were all dressed up for in the first place.

Harry and Niall nodded, walking forward to give Zayn and Liam a few more seconds together. It wasn’t much but Harry saw, out of the corner of his eyes, Liam press a hard kiss to Zayn’s mouth. He smiled when he realised their two stylists had looked away on purpose to give Zayn and Liam what little privacy they could. It made Harry’s heart warm a little bit to know not every human was as horrible as Eleanor.

“Come on then”, Eleanor stated as Perrie, Jesy and two other girls joined their group. “Keep up or you’ll get left behind”.

 

*********************************************************************************

 

Harry completely lost track of the direction they were going in but it was definitely upwards, towards the surface levels. Everything was brighter here, some kind of white light streaming in through the windows and making them all squint. Finally, they came to another large door. 

When Eleanor opened it, they stood in what looked like a large ball room. The walls were draped with scarlet ribbons and there were large staircases on either side, leading up to the second floor. But the most apparent thing were the hundred or so glass display cases that were set up around the place. Some were hung up but most touched the ground. Many were filled already by various mutants. 

Harry saw a few he knew and gave them a small smile, noting that they wore the same nervous expression he was certain he sported.

“You three are in here”, Eleanor pointed the two girls and Perrie to three, separate, glass cases. Perrie gave Harry a sad look and a small wave as she stepped into her display case, a guard closing and locking it before turning the electricity on. Not that Perrie had any intention of escaping but the guards of the Institute were nothing if not careful.

Eleanor led the rest of them upstairs to their own display cases. Harry was situated between Niall and Liam; Zayn(who was in an insulated case. They really weren’t taking any chances) was on the other side of Niall and Jesy was on the other side of Zayn. They could see each other but their cases were soundproofed so talking was out of the question. 

Liam waved to get Harry’s attention then pointed at the small metallic object in front of their locked doors. Harry frowned, trying to understand what Liam was saying before realising that he was pointing at what appeared to be a speaker.

“So the Masters can talk to us”, Liam mouthed and Harry nodded. Great. One of Liam’s hands were handcuffed to the side of his case, ensuring he couldn’t create portals.

He glanced over at Niall, whose display case was slightly bigger than the rest of theirs to accommodate for his wings. Jesy, Harry noticed, had her handcuffs off and was floating in her box, bored.

“How long?” Harry mouthed to Liam who shrugged.

“Should be soon”, he mouthed back and, as if that had been the secret signal, the front doors opened, bringing with it a swarm of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen. Some of them moved in groups, others by themselves. A few had other mutants accompanying them, some on leashes. 

Harry looked away from those before he started crying. This might be his life soon, stuck on a leash, waiting to be led from place to place by a Master he would have no choice but to obey.

The Masters perused the ground floor first though a few drifted up to the top, examining the mutants on display. Each of their boxes had their powers printed on the front but not their names because, as they had learnt years ago at the Institute, mutant names weren’t important to humans. They could call you whatever they wanted and you’d have to listen. That was just the way the world worked.

Harry tried to spot Perrie but her display case was lost among the crowds milling around. Niall looked as nervous as he felt, his wings fluttering in anticipation. A few people came by Harry’s case. Two stopped to look, smiling at him. He smiled back politely but not wide enough for his dimples to appear. Maybe that was why none of them pressed the button to talk to him or made a bid. 

It was probably about half an hour into the Market that a girl with long, white-blonde hair came sweeping by their cases. She was wearing a beautiful blue gown that matched her eyes and her fingernails were painted bright green. She looked at Zayn first, smiling as he glared daggers at her, as he had at every other person who had considered bidding for him.

She didn’t seem to mind though as she moved on, walking up to Niall. This time, she pressed the button and said something to him that had Niall grinning and nodding. She grinned back and Harry immediately felt as if she were a nice person- one of the kinder Masters. 

She took out a green card from her bag, writing something on it before depositing it into the box outside Niall’s display case. She winked at him as she moved on, her eyes resting on Harry.

She gave him a flirtatious smile, pressing the button to speak.

“Hi there”, she said and her voice was pleasant, “You’re quite pretty. I’d love to have you if…” her words were cut off by another voice and Harry could only hear because the woman was still holding onto the speaker button.

“A bit too old for you isn’t he, Lottie?” 

Harry looked up to see an extremely attractive man staring back at him. He looked to be in his mid twenties with light, chestnut coloured hair and sparkling blue eyes but what made Harry’s heart skip a beat was the dazzling smile he gave him when their eyes met. 

For just a second, Harry may have forgotten how to breathe. Hell, he forgot breathing was a necessary life function. For just a second, he was lost in the ocean blue eyes that held a sea of promises. The man seemed slightly dazed too for his mouth fell open. He recovered quickly though.

“Fuck off, Louis!” the girl, Lottie, said, turning back to speak to Harry.

“Sorry about that”, she began but Louis’ voice cut across her again, making her grit her teeth together as she glared at him. 

“I’m just looking out for my little sister here!” he said with a shrug, “This lovely man is probably more interested in me than he is in you”.

Harry blushed at that because…yeah, okay.

“Why would he…?” Lottie began only to see Louis’ smirk. She turned back to Harry, glaring at him as if he had personally offended her. 

“You’re gay?” her tone was accusing, “Why are all the gorgeous ones gay? It’s not fair!”

Harry bowed his head, his mutant nature automatically wanting to submit at the anger in her voice.

“Shut up, Lottie!” Louis’ tone was sharp, “You’re scaring him”.

Lottie’s eyes immediately looked repentant.  
“Sorry” she said, “Fuck! Honestly, I didn’t mean to…”

“Why don’t you go find someone else?” Louis suggested and Harry peeked up through his eyelashes to see the man had moved closer to his case.

Lottie scoffed at that.  
“Oh, please!” she smirked, “You just want me to move on so you can have him”.

“Let me put this another way”, Louis said and his voice got slightly rougher. It made Harry shiver a bit, in a good way. “Find someone else. He’s mine”.

It was so possessive. Harry flushed again, ducking his head when he realised Louis was watching him with a soft smile. 

“Fine!” Lottie huffed, “At least I get him”. She nodded towards Niall. “He’s even prettier!”

Louis rolled his eyes,  
“I beg to differ”, he said, “And you haven’t gotten him yet. Someone could outbid you”.

Lottie smirked then, looking eerily like Louis had seconds ago. “Oh, I’ll get him”, she said, “He’s mine”.

Some strange understanding passed between the two for Louis nodded once, a small smile on his lips.

When Harry looked back up, Lottie was gone and Louis was writing something on a green card, similar to the one Lottie had placed in Niall’s box. He slipped it into Harry’s box then grinned at him.

Harry’s heart was beating faster than it ever had in his life. He wasn’t entirely certain it was healthy!

“You’re absolutely gorgeous”, Louis murmured and Harry realised he was talking through the speaker. It’s not as if Louis could hear Harry if he said anything anyway so he let his blushing cheeks talk for him. Louis looked as if he were about to say something else when a slightly older man stopped beside Harry’s case, tugging three mutants along, who were attached by leashes.

“Tomlinson!” the man said, seeming surprised to see Louis there and that’s when it clicked in Harry’s head. 

Lord Louis Tomlinson, owner of the place all the mutants called ‘The Sanctuary’. The guy who never made his companions have sex with him. Suddenly, Harry found himself hoping Louis had bid a high enough amount to secure him.

“Cowell”, Louis answered with disinterest, “Trying to find more poor victims for that brothel of yours?” 

His facial expression showed just how disgusted he was by this idea as he glanced at the tired-looking companions the man had brought with him.

Cowell just chuckled, unperturbed.

“I had my sights set on the blonde one”, Cowell said, grinning lecherously at Niall who shrunk against the farthest corner of his case, giving Harry a horrified look.

Louis seemed to notice this for he said, “I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you, Cowell. Lottie’s bidding for him. You don’t stand a chance against her”.

Cowell seemed slightly depressed by this.  
“Yes, well”, he turned to survey Harry, who felt as if his skin were crawling with something unpleasant when the man’s eyes fell on him. He looked at him as if he were a piece of meat. It was degrading to say the least. 

“Isn’t he a pretty piece?”

“He’s claimed”, Louis said tightly and Harry looked over to see Louis’ eyes had hardened to ice. For some reason, that only made him look even sexier.

Cowell raised an eyebrow.

“Really?” he asked, obviously disbelieving, “You underestimate the amount of money I’m willing to bid for him, Tomlinson. He’d be a popular one to add to my collection. It’d be worth it. Customers would line up to have a go with him”.

Harry whimpered with fright and, though Louis couldn’t have possibly heard him, those blue eyes caught his, the gaze oddly calming.

“Give it up, Cowell”, Louis said, turning back to the man, “Whatever you bid, I’ll bid higher and you know it”.

“Ah, but you forget. You can only bid on one mutant a maximum of three times. As long as I beat your last price, I’ll be the one going home with this beauty”.

“What makes you think you can beat my last price?” Louis asked, gritting his teeth together.

Cowell gave a toothy grin. “Because I’m willing to bid all the money I have to spare today on this one mutant”.

Louis’ eyes narrowed, “And how much money is that, exactly?”

“Twenty million”, Cowell answered with a smirk, “And I, unlike you, am fine with taking just one mutant home tonight. I’d make twice as much business with him on the menu”.

“You’re fucking pathetic, you know that?” Louis gritted out. 

Cowell smirked.  
“How sweet of you to say. But the question here is, would you really be willing to bid more than twenty million on one? I’d have thought you’d want to surround yourself with a whole army of mutants after what happened with the ritual and all. To distract you from your failure. How is that mutant? Dead yet?”

Louis’ eyes were stormy when he answered, “ _That_ is none of your business!”

“No, I suppose not”, Cowell sighed as if disappointed by this fact, “But _this one_ might be”.

Harry slunk further back in his case, wishing he didn’t have to hear this and praying this man called Cowell would just leave him alone. But that seemed unlikely as those creepily grey eyes came to rest on him again, taking in his figure. Cowell licked his lips obscenely, giving Harry a leering smile that was disturbing in so many ways.

“I’m buying him outright!” Louis snapped, drawing Cowell’s attention away from Harry and onto him, “For seventeen million”.  
Cowell’s eyes, Harry noted, were shocked, disbelieving.

“You’re bluffing”, he stated but he didn’t seem as confident as he had a minute ago.

Louis just smirked, signalling over one of the guards.  
“Seventeen”, he repeated, “To buy him outright”.

“I’ll pay twenty”, Cowell said, “On credit card”.

The guard shook his head.  
“Sorry Sir. If you want to use a card, you have to bid. Buying outright is with cash only”.

“There’s no way Tomlinson has that much in cash on him at this very moment!” Cowell exclaimed.

Louis just raised an eyebrow, turning to the guard. “Find me Eleanor Calder. I do all my dealings with her”.

“Of course, Sir”, the guard hurried off.

“See, Cowell”, Louis explained to the gobsmacked man, “I, unlike you, have the intellect to have an account with the Institute. So having a few millions of dollars in cash isn’t as big a problem as you’d think”.

Cowell still seemed to be in disbelief. Harry wrapped his arms around himself as he saw Eleanor running towards them. She gave Louis a beaming smile that had Harry doing a double take. He didn’t even know Eleanor _could_ smile!

“Mr. Tomlinson!” she gushed, “How may I help you?”

“Ms.Calder”, he answered, politely, “I’d appreciate it if you could confirm that I have seventeen million dollars in my account here that I can use to make an outright buy”.

“Of course you do!” Eleanor nodded, “I checked all the accounts just before the Market began. You have twenty five million in yours”.

“Lovely!” Louis grinned turning back to Cowell, “I believe you’ll have to find yourself another mutant or, perhaps, just give up for the day?”

Cowell’s face turned varying shades of purple before he snarled at one of the guards, “I want to start an account with you before the next Market!” 

Louis chuckled as the man marched away, obviously fuming. 

“Who is it that you wish to buy outright, Mr.Tomlinson?” Eleanor asked, smile still on her face. It was rare for someone to pay such a large amount instead of waiting to win the auction.

Louis’ gaze turned back to Harry, who was still huddled in the corner.

“This lovely man here”, he nodded towards him, “What’s his name?”

Eleanor looked surprised. “Oh, that’s Styles. Harry Styles. He’s not very powerful, Mr.Tomlinson”.

Louis quirked up an eyebrow, staring at her. “It says he can see the future. That sounds pretty impressive”.

“Except he can’t really”, Eleanor continued, “His visions are very subjective. He’s gotten most predictions wrong in the past and just this morning, I’m pretty certain he lied about-”.

“I want him”, Louis cut across Eleanor’s spiel, “Seventeen million. And I want him off display immediately. He’s mine”.

Eleanor nodded curtly, realising she wasn’t going to change his mind.  
“Of course”, she mumbled, calling over a guard who had the key for Harry’s case. 

Louis turned back to Harry.  
“I’ll see you soon”, he said, giving him a wink before he merged with the crowd, probably looking for more mutants to save from Cowell’s clutches. 

“Come on then”, Eleanor grumbled, grabbing Harry roughly by the arm, “Don’t know what he saw in you but we need to get your papers sorted”.

Harry turned to see Niall giving him a thumbs up. Liam’s case was surrounded by people so he couldn’t wave and Zayn, despite his glaring, was attracting quite a bit of attention. 

“Hurry up!” Eleanor shoved Harry forward and he stumbled, finally relenting and following her out of the Market through the back door. 

It was only as he watched Eleanor draw up the papers that gave his ownership rights to Louis Tomlinson that he realised this was actually happening. He was going to The Sanctuary. He had been bought by a Master.

*********************************************************************************

 

Louis collected him the moment Eleanor had the papers drawn up. 

“If you wanted to wait until after the bidding…” Eleanor began but Louis shook his head, cutting her off. 

“No. I want Harry with me”, he said and shook his head again when Eleanor offered him a leash. “I don’t treat them like that”.

There was enough firmness in his tone for Eleanor to stop herself from asking any further questions. Louis grabbed Harry’s hand and Harry felt a tingle run through his entire body from that single point of contact. He followed obediently, not even thinking about resisting. He wasn’t sure why but his submissive instincts were even stronger in Louis’ presence. 

He felt safe with him even though he hardly knew the man! 

“So I’ve got this idea to bid for two more mutants”, Louis told him, keeping a hand on his back possessively as they moved through the crowd, “But I figured you’d be able to give me a better opinion on them. Since you probably know them better”. 

He led Harry to a balcony, overlooking the entire ballroom. There were less people here, it obviously being a VIP area.

“She’s the first one”, Louis pointed to one of the display cases and Harry leaned forward slightly to look. 

“Oh that’s Perrie!” he stated happily and then turned to see Louis was staring at him.  
He immediately blushed and looked at his own feet. Shit! What had he done wrong?

“You have a really deep voice”, Louis said, “Like, deeper than I thought”.

“Sorry”, Harry immediately said, out of habit but Louis just laughed. It was a nice laugh, loud and carefree. 

“God, that’s…why are you apologising? It’s not even a bad thing!” Louis exclaimed.

“Oh”, Harry said because he was completely confused.

He felt Louis’ hand on his cheek, tilting his head up and Harry let his eyes meet Louis’. 

“Harry”, Louis’ voice was quiet, one hand placed on Harry’s hip, “I know it’s in your nature to be submissive but I don’t want you to be scared of me, okay? I’d never hurt you. If I ever scare you in any way, I want you to tell me, alright?”

Harry nodded and then bit his lip. He wanted to drop his gaze from Louis’ blue eyes because it _was_ in his nature to be submissive and being around Louis only made that more apparent. His body and mind were telling him that staring at his Master was disrespectful but those deep blue eyes were almost hypnotising. 

“You have beautiful eyes, Harry”, Louis whispered, his breath lightly ghosting against Harry’s cheeks and just like that, his body accepted that it was okay to stare at Louis. Because his Master wanted to see his eyes; he liked his eyes. 

“C..can I ask you a question?” Harry asked.

“You just did”, Louis teased, his eyes crinkling with laughter but then he added, “Of course you can! You don’t need to ask me for permission to talk”.

Harry blushed and nodded again. At the Institute, he had to ask humans permission for everything. It was good to know Louis wasn’t like that.

“Um, it’s just…I’m not sure what you want me to call you. Master or Lord Tomlinson or…?” he trailed off.

“Lord Tomlinson’s my father”, Louis replied with a chuckle, “Call me Louis”.

“Louis”, Harry tested out the name. He liked the way it sounded on his lips. “But…even in public?” 

It was disrespectful in society to call a Master by their name. That was a privilege given only to bonded mutants. 

Louis seemed to realise this too for he frowned, considering Harry for a moment. 

“How about”, he said slowly, thinking about a solution, “You call me ‘Daddy’ when we’re in public. That’s less formal than Master. Yeah, I think I’d quite like you to call me that but only in front of others. At home, I’m Louis”.

“Okay, Daddy”, Harry smiled back and it could have been his imagination but he thought he heard Louis’ breath hitch slightly. 

“Um, Perrie?” Harry finally asked, remembering what they had been talking about. Louis frowned for a second, confused, before he remembered he had brought Harry up here for a reason.

“Oh! Right. So is she like, a friend of yours?” he asked.

“Yeah”, Harry nodded, smiling, “She’s a really good friend. And her power’s awesome!”

Louis chuckled. “ _Your_ power’s awesome”, he said, giving Harry a cheeky grin that made Harry lose focus for a second.

“Perrie’s is better though. Like, way better”, Harry protested and Louis laughed, pulling him closer by wrapping a hand around his waist. The feel of it made Harry shiver and he stepped as close as physically possible, almost craving the touch of this man. He blamed it on his mutant body reacting to the mere presence of a dominant human. 

“Whatever you want to believe then, love”, Louis chuckled and Harry couldn’t help the way his pulse raced at the word ‘love’. “So, you think I’ve made a good decision with her then?”

Harry nodded again. “She’s great”, he repeated.

“Good. And the other one is him”, Louis pointed to someone with dark hair who was grinning at a bunch of people. “I think he’s a bit of a flirt but his power is meant to be fire, which sounds pretty amazing. Good for protection and all that”.

Harry immediately realised who he was talking about.  
“Nick Grimshaw”, he stated, “He gets in trouble a lot. I don’t really know him that well but he seems nice”.

“He looks older”, Louis commented.

“He was transferred to the Institute from one of the other mutant programmes”, Harry answered, “Said he’d failed a few classes and lost a couple of years. I think he’s twenty?”

Louis nodded. “Yeah, not too sure about him. Seems like a bit of a troublemaker. Ah well. We’ll see. Someone might outbid me yet. Didn’t put too much down for him either way”.

“You paid a lot for me”, Harry found himself blurting out before he could bite his tongue. 

Now Louis did grin, turning to face him.  
“And you’re worth it”, he stated, “I’d have paid twice as much for you”.

“But why?” Harry asked. Curiosity had always been his downfall.

Louis didn’t seem angry at the questioning though. Instead, he looked thoughtful.

“I..well, you’re really pretty, obviously. And you seemed kind of lonely in there and I just…I couldn’t bear the thought of someone else taking you home”, Louis murmured, “You’re mine”.

Harry had never wanted to kiss someone so badly but he wasn’t about to overstep his place. It was up to his Master to decide when and if they were to kiss. He thought about Niall’s information on how Louis didn’t kiss any of his mutants. The thought made Harry a bit sad though he couldn’t exactly explain why. Maybe it was just his mutant body craving attention?

He kept getting this picture of Louis and him on the grass. The grass was wet but he was lying there, looking up as Louis leant over him. They were about to kiss, just about to…

“So, who do you want?” Louis asked and Harry realised he’d blanked out for a second. Had that been a vision? Or just him daydreaming? Probably the latter. It was one of Harry’s bad habits.

“Huh?” Harry asked, incredibly embarrassed. 

Louis raised an eyebrow. “Were you not listening to me?” he asked.

Harry blushed. “Sorry”, he mumbled, wincing.

Louis’ arms tightened around his waist, pulling him even closer.  
“Just try not to let it happen again. I don’t like not having your attention”, he said and Harry nodded, grateful he wasn’t going to be punished for it. “I was saying, there are plenty of mutants at The Sanctuary but you might miss the Institute the first few weeks. It sometimes happens. So if you have a friend you’d like me to get for you, it might be a bit easier for you to adjust? Hopefully you’ll have Perrie but is there anyone you’d like to bring with you?”

Harry hesitated. His first option would have been Niall but he had already been bought by Louis’ sister. And he knew Liam would be fine on his own so his thoughts immediately turned to Zayn. Liam had mentioned to him a few times how he was terrified Zayn would be bought by someone like Cowell. 

“Zayn”, he told Louis, “I mean, you don’t have to! It’s just…if you wanted to…”

Louis cut off his rambling by pulling him away from the balcony.  
“Lead the way”, he told Harry who grinned and nodded. 

By the time they got there, most of the crowd were gathered by the large stage, awaiting the final verdicts.

“Any last bids? Now would be the time”, Eleanor announced to the room at large. Harry noticed Liam was smiling as a woman spoke to him through the speaker. Zayn, on the other hand, was glowering in his case.

Harry waved to him the moment their eyes met. Zayn raised an eyebrow, took one look at Louis then smirked back at Harry, who blushed crimson. 

“Found anyone you like yet?” Louis asked into the speaker and Zayn shook his head to indicate no. “Good because Harry wants you to come with us”.

Zayn’s eyes widened comically and he stared at Harry.  
“Want to talk to him?” Louis asked Harry who nodded. Louis stepped out of the way.

“Hey Zayn”, Harry said through the speaker, feeling strange to be on this side, “Um, I thought you’d like to..uh, you know. ‘Cause we’re pretty good mates and all. Maybe you want to come with us?”

Zayn only took a moment to consider before nodding. Harry turned back to find Louis was already filling out a green card.

“Ten, I think”, he murmured to himself as he dropped the card into the box in front of Zayn, “Fingers crossed no one’s bid higher”.

He gave Zayn a smile, letting Harry wave to him before leading him towards the front of the room where the stage was.

They had to wait for fifteen minutes for all the bids to be finalised but by the end of it, Louis was officially the Master of Perrie, Nick and Zayn; Lottie had gotten Niall, Jesy and another girl by the name of Selena and Liam had been given to someone called Sophia, who already seemed besotted with him.

Still, Liam caught Zayn’s eye before Sophia led him away. A silent goodbye that Zayn returned with a sad smile.

“Shall we head home then?” Louis asked them and they all nodded, Perrie gripping Harry’s arm tightly. Her excitement at having been bought by Lord Tomlinson was apparent from the way she kept beaming at him.

Louis led them outside, causing all of them to blink as they were exposed to direct sunlight for the first time in their life. Louis let Harry hide his face against his shoulder to stop the light from hurting his eyes.

“You’ll get used to it soon enough”, he told them and they all shared skeptical looks. 

They doubted the big, yellow thing that was brighter than any light they’d ever been exposed to would be easy to ‘get used to’. Still, no one argued with Louis. He was their Master, after all. One who had saved them from having a far worse fate. 

He led them to a car, opening it to let them all clamber in. One of his hands reached out to grab Harry’s arm before he could follow Nick, tugging him closer.

“Haz. Get in the front with me, yeah?” Louis phrased it as a request. 

Harry may have grinned a bit wider at the nickname. He nodded, scrambling in as Louis gave him a pleased grin. Then they were off, speeding down the road and Harry got his first ever look at the outside world.  
He loved it already!


	2. Author's note about updates

I've gotten a LOT of comments on making this into a series so that's going to be happening! I just wanted to let you know that you might like to subscribe to the series so you'll get a notification when I update. Alternatively, you can just stalk my page and maybe have a read of my other stories if the mood strikes ;)

I want to thank you all for the lovely comments and kudos! Your support means the world to me. UPDATE: The next part is up now! <3 xx

**Author's Note:**

> I might make this into a series? Kudos and comments would be lovely <3 xx


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